


Recovering Romance (The Revamp)

by Arius_LaVari



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, Evil, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Kidnapping, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-09-28 18:29:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17188151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arius_LaVari/pseuds/Arius_LaVari
Summary: Gajeel and Natsu sensed that something was wrong, but brushed it off as paranoia and didn't listen to their instincts. They should have though because shortly after they go to the guild hall to wait for Levy and Lucy a strange sense of fear grips them and in a panic they rush to check on Lucy's house. It's been torn to shreds and the girls are missing. The boys eventually find them with the help of Blue Pegasus and their friends but they don't find the girls entirely whole anymore. Gajeel and Natsu decide to dedicate time to the girls to help them on the road to recovering from the traumatizing experience.





	1. Missing

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a revamp of my other story. Rewritten some of the story has been changed but with the same basic concepts involved. I decided to rewrite them because my previous work had a lot of grammatical and sentence structure errors. I'm hoping this rewrite is better.

**Chapter One**

Why was it so damn dark? Wait, why’d the air smell like blueberries and vanilla ice cream? Gajeel’s sleeping mind was creating the strangest feeling and his dream self opened his eyes. He was blinded by a bright, sunny sky and hazel eyes staring down at him lovingly. “Hey there Gajeel, did I accidentally wake you?” In response, too dazed to be verbal, he shook his head. “Oh good, you can go back to sleep then, if you want.”

This was a dream, wishful thinking, he knew that but still, he felt at peace. His eyes drift closed again for a moment. As he’s resting in his dream, eating up the vanilla and blueberries smell when a sudden ear splitting scream scares him awake.

Gasping aloud he sits up in his bed hand outstretched as though trying to grab something, only to be greeted by a flying and concerned looking Pantherlily. “Gajeel, are you okay?”

It was only after he began to fully come to that he realized his sheets were soaked with sweat as well as his sleeping clothes. “I’m fine Lily. I’m gonna take a shower and we’re headed to the guild.” He didn’t tell Lily about the nightmare or the paranoia now eating at him. He honestly just wanted to hurry and see Levy.

Levy McGarden, a serious topic of issue with Gajeel, he would never say it aloud but he wanted her, not just as a one night stand or anything like that but as his girlfriend. However, he ignored those feelings he had absolutely no right to want Levy, not after what he’d done to her. He would never show these feelings to anyone, Makarov would kill him if he ever found out. “Damn it, that girl, get outta my head Shrimp.” Gajeel punches a wall once taking a steadying deep breath.

Moving quickly he starts throwing his sheets and bed clothes into the washer to start the machine while he was gone. Pantherlily watches him carefully and flies over to him tapping his back. He knew about the Dragon Slayer’s feelings and decided maybe he should say something. “Hey...you should tell her how you feel Gajeel. Nobody is angry at you anymore, don’t you realize that?”

“I should check on her at least,” He mutters in response turning away from Pantherlily, the sudden scream in his dream wouldn’t get out of his head and he felt compelled to obey it. He dressed quickly, snatched Lily out of the air and began running towards the guild hall. He wasn’t fully paying attention though and the object of his paranoia slammed into his broad chest, beginning to fall backward. Startled, Gajeel drops Lily and pulls Levy towards him holding her tightly for a moment. “Safe…” He whispers softly and lets go of her.

He was so distracted that he doesn’t notice the intense blush crawling up Levy’s face as she rubs the back of her head laughing nervously, “O-Oh my! Gajeel! I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching...Gajeel!” His heart aches and thuds suddenly as Levy reaches her hand up to his head looking for a fever. “You’re pale as a ghost, did you catch a cold?”

“Who are you kiddin’ Shrimp? I’m a Dragon Slayer, I don’t get sick.” He pats her head, purposefully being patronizing. “Did ya get shorter?”

Hazel eyes glare up at him, rosy cheeks puffing up in a pout. It was so damn adorable Gajeel had to look away. “I was obviously stupid for worrying about you! I’m going to Lucy’s, goodbye Gajeel!” With that, she stomped off towards the Blondie’s house, leaving him with a strange sense of finality. No, she would be at the guild later, he assured himself.

Pushing the sudden worry down Gajeel and Pantherlily made their way to the guild, bumping into Gray along the way. “Yo Metalhead, you seen Lucy around town on yer way here?” He asks suddenly causing the slayer to snort and huff.

“No, why would I know anything about that blonde bimbo, Salamander would know better about her, Ice Stripper.” He walks away after that and stomps inside the guild hall immediately noticing that Natsu is sitting on a table staring at the door. He must have been searching for the Blondie, well they’d be awhile probably.

Gajeel drops onto a bench in the hall and waves at Mirajane to order some breakfast, “If ya got any iron around give me it too.” Mirajane laughs at this as she happily skips off to fill Gajeel’s meal order. Unfortunately, Salamander was annoying the hell out of Gajeel, he was tapping on the table constantly sounding so impatient and Gajeel’s temper was already short from his nightmare this morning. “Will you fucking stop doing that hothead?”

“You gonna make me?” Natsu snarled at him causing the iron slayer to shoot him a red-eyed glare.

“Yeah, I’m gonna come over there and stomp yer ass, so stop doing that shit, if you’re so worried about the Blondie go check on her.” He may have been trying to aggravate Salamander but another part of him hoped the pink-haired idiot would go check on Lucy and by association, Levy as well.

Before any fighting could start; thankfully, Mirajane rushed out with two piles of food, one she dropped in front of Natsu while she set the other in front of Gajeel, both were hungry and grouchy so they managed to ignore each other. Sighing internally Gajeel sticks an iron fork into his food and bites into it, through the iron too. It...was bitter. Coughing he spits it out and wipes his mouth sort of glaring at the food. “This tastes bad…” Both Natsu and Gajeel say at the same time and some instinct seems to scream at them both.

Startled they look at each other, they don’t look like they’re about to fight, but their eyes reflect sudden fear and paranoia. Everybody notices the sudden tension in the men, and Erza jumps to her feet, “What’s going on you two?”

They don’t answer her though and both take off out the door running for Lucy’s house along the canal. It doesn’t take them long to get there, but what they find causes their stomachs to drop in abject fear. “Go tell the guild!” Gajeel yells at Natsu and without thinking twice he takes off while Gajeel walks into the apartment, noticing the landlady on the floor. “Hey!” She was breathing at least, he could hear it, maybe she saw something of use. “Hey, are you okay? If you’re conscious tell me what happened.”

Weakly the woman opens her eyes and grabs Gajeel’s coat staring surprisingly intensely. “Some...some crazy people came...they did something to those two girls...then me, I heard the girls fighting though but…” Her voice trailed off before she slipped into unconsciousness.

Sighing he shakes his head and gets up walking into Lucy’s apartment. It was a wreck, there was shattered glass everywhere, her pillows were ripped, there was also the awful smell of strawberries, Stardust, and leather tinged with blood. He didn’t smell Levy yet until he got near the bed, the books, blueberries, and the vanilla smell hit him like a ton of bricks. “Fuck…” After looking around at the chaos a bit more he found probably the worst thing he could have in that situation. On the ground, he found Lucy’s keys, dropped and abandoned and a pair of broken Wind Readers as well as Levy’s signature Light Pen.

For the first time in his life...Gajeel felt truly afraid for someone else. He left the items as they were and instead started following the scent left behind by both the girls and their kidnappers. He managed to follow the smell all the way to the forest outside of Magnolia but he couldn’t pinpoint it after that. It wasn’t long after he arrived at the forest that Jet was standing beside him looking around frantically. “It took me forever to find you! Have you found Levy?!”

Gajeel shakes his head glaring at the ground, “I can’t pinpoint either of their scents...there’s something that has strangely eliminated their scents.” He drops to his knees and punches the ground then practically roaring. His chest hurt so much, why hadn’t he listened to his instincts? If he had he would have been nearby and could have stopped them from taking either of the girls, he may not have gotten to know Lucy but she was still his guildmate.

Shortly after Jet arrives Droy, Makarov, Natsu, and the rest of the guild arrive and Erza begins calmly but angrily organizing search parties. She splits Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy up so they can try and search by scent but no matter what they did or how far out they went they couldn’t pick up either of their scents again. They’d searched all day and night, until everyone was so tired they could barely stay standing.

Quietly, Gray walks over to the two slayers sitting near each other without fighting and taps Natsu on the shoulder. “Hey...What’s on your mind man? You ran out of the guild this morning like you knew something was wrong.”

Salamander sighs and puts his face in his hands mumbling his response, “I did...or I had a feeling at least. I had a bad dream and Lucy screamed in it, I woke up in a cold sweat and ran to the guild hall. I should have gone to Lucy damn it!”

Gajeel stares at the fire dragon slayer wide eyed, finally deigning to speak, “I had a similar dream.” He states it blankly, neither of the slayers have stopped to eat or take a break until just now so both look extremely exhausted.

The exhaustion of the men doesn’t stop Makarov from walking over to them to ask them about the dreams. Blushing indignantly; because honestly he had no choice at this point, his bookworm was missing, he explained his dream, glad that Makarov didn’t squish him right then and there. He wasn’t surprised when Natsu discovered a similar dream except he had been on a warm island by the ocean, but that was the only difference. The Guild Master did give them both looks however that said ‘Once the girls are back we’re talking’. Sighing Makarov turned to those still searching, and called out. “Fairy Tail guild! Pay attention! What we do now is extremely important, go home and rest and tomorrow several teams are going to take requests to all other guilds across Fiore to help us find Levy and Lucy! We cannot do this one on our own children, so go home, try to sleep if you can, we’re going to be busy until we find our missing girls!”

With that the crowd reluctantly departed and Makarov had to use his giant’s magic to physically move both Gajeel and Natsu. “Let me go old geezer!” Natsu yelled and squirmed in his hand while Gajeel had long given up and was lost in his thoughts.

“No I won’t do that, I plan to keep an eye on you two for a few days, when the teams go out tomorrow you two will be stuck with me. You’re noses are sharp and I want to travel from guild to guild with you hoping you’ll pick up their scents along the way, do you understand?” Silent as the grave Gajeel nods and resigns himself to this fate.

Gajeel really didn’t want to think about it but there was no getting around it now, Levy and Lucy were missing and he wouldn’t rest until they were safe and at home, where they should always be. His gut churns though as he surrenders to the furious schedule Makarov seems to be planning, those were two of his children he wouldn’t stop until they were found...dead or alive.


	2. Wreck and Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a month of searching they've heard nothing back. Until Blue Pegasus' Hibiki Lates and Eve and Ren show up to inform Fairy Tail of some rumors. Rumors of a prison of women wizards being kept and drained of their magic slowly until their little but husks and dead. Fueled by worry Makarov sends a group to check out the rumored location with Blue Pegasus' help. They've finally found the girls but they aren't entirely whole anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am working on Chapter three right now and plan to post it over the weekend or the beginning of next week, it'll be a bit brighter than these two chapters. Sorry for such a long wait. I'm going to try and rewrite this as quickly as I can so you can get an updated chapter but several bits of the story have been changed and will probably continue to change as I expand my knowledge as a writer.

**Chapter Two**

He was such a fucking wreck, for the past month he and Salamander had been traveling from guild to guild, hunting for Levy or Lucy, knowing finding even the smallest hint of one would lead to the other. Gajeel could barely choke down one meal a day let alone any iron, he was getting weak both physically and magically. Salamander wasn’t doing any better honestly, both slayers looked ready to fall apart at the seams. Lisanna slams plate of food in front of the pink haired man who just sort of scoffs at it and looks at Gajeel. “We should get going, Makarov wants us to check in at Blue Pegasus.”

Slowly both of them get to their feet and start walking towards the door only for Pantherlily to take on his larger muscular form and drag Gajeel back to his seat while Lisanna shoved Natsu back down. “No you two need to eat and sleep! You need to eat some fire Natsu! and Gajeel you need to eat some scrap iron, I don’t care how bad you both say it tastes, you need to get your strength up before you do anymore roaming around!” Lisanna scolded them both and Natsu did his best to shove her away, but he was so drained he couldn’t. “Look at you Natsu! You’re so weak you can’t even push me away, how are you ever gonna help Lucy and Levy like that? You’re always so strong, seeing you like this is killing me.” She was crying now and kneeling in front of Natsu trying to prevent him from wandering off.

“I…” Natsu couldn’t figure out his words and Gajeel could sympathize, he was just as bad as Gajeel was right then. Once Lucy’s keys and Levy’s glasses and Light Pen were cleared of being helpful to the search he and Salamander kept hold of the items like they were the keys to a kingdom. Pathetic he knew, but if he let these items go he’d be giving up, he would be admitting Levy and Lucy were gone and not coming back. Collapsing back into the seat Natsu tries to force down some food, tossing Gajeel an apple to do the same. “I just can’t stop Lisanna. I want to find two living, breathing, whole girls...not...not two bodies.”

Everyone stopped then, staring wide eyed at Natsu‘s words. Lisanna had no comeback then. She silently left his side and collapsed beside Mirajane who was trying to stop her sister from crying. So many people looked downtrodden by the thought that nobody had wanted to voice. Nobody could argue with that logic, so Gajeel and Natsu force down a few mouthfuls of food and their respective element before getting to their feet again and heading for the guild’s entrance.

It was at this moment that Hibiki Lates came through the door. The dark blond haired man looked around at the guild and flinched. “Really gloomy in here isn’t it?” He sighs deciding not to make any jokes right now. Instead he looks around the hall and walks up to Makarov. “Guild Master, I come bearing news of some rumors Blue Pegasus has been hearing lately.” Makarov sat straight as a board wide awake now.

“Well come on boy! Spit it out! I’m in no mood to beat around the bush.”

Natsu and Gajeel stared stiffly at their news bearer, making him squirm uncomfortably, “We’ve heard rumors of a dark guild imprisoning women and stealing their magic until they have none left. We went to investigate but found nothing except several bodies, so covered in grime and so weak nobody could identify them.” Gajeel’s heart drops like a lead balloon and he gasps, fear riding him hard.

“Was there nothing at all to help identify them?!” Natsu suddenly yelled, the panic in his onyx eyes evident.

“There were three blondes, five brown haired women, one with white hair and one with blue hair.” Hibiki says it cautiously, he didn’t need Natsu or Gajeel going on a rampage. Both were still as stone though and he wondered if Evergreen had turned them to stone. “We sent samples to the science facility in Crocus last week. Before you get angry we wanted the results back so we could bring you the news, good or bad.”

“And which one is it Hibiki?!” Snarled Laxus from the second floor, not enjoying how he was beating around the bush. Fearing the way he was doing it honestly.

Hibiki sighs and shakes his head waving at Wendy as she walked up to greet him, “The bodies were identified and none of them were Lucy or Levy.” The tension immediately relaxed and Gajeel nearly collapsed with relief. “Ah...but there is something a bit more sinister we discovered as well. There were...also a few children’s bodies. That’s why I’m here, despite the current situation Fairy Tail is still the strongest guild in Fiore so I came to request the assistance of Gajeel, Wendy, Natsu, Erza, and Gray to find and hopefully wipe out this dark guild. Perhaps Levy and Lucy are there too, so what do you say Makarov?”

“Granted. Even if Levy and Lucy aren’t there we can’t just sit idly by while some dark guild is murdering so many! The ones named...eat and regain your strength, don’t question or protest me just do as I say.” The mages named all managed to force down some food , iron, fire, and wind, feeling some of their strength returning, none of them hovered around though. In no time at all the five members requested are headed out the door with Hibiki headed towards a clearing just outside of Magnolia. The group should have known that Blue Pegasus had flown out here, which likely meant the rest of the Trimens were on board as well. 

Erza tried not to twitch and fidget, she really couldn’t stand Ichiya and instinctively hovered back a bit further from the rest of the group. She let out an audible sigh of relief though when only Eve and Ren walked out of entrance to Christina. Eve immediately got down on one knee in front of Wendy and took her hand smiling boyishly, “Hello lovely Wendy, it’s been awhile, you’ve gotten even more beautiful since I last saw you!” Wendy, flustered and shy blushes and flails her free hand nervously.

“Ah...I-It has been awhile! Nice to see you guys again!” She speaks in a rush and panic looking anywhere but at the boy so obviously being a flirt. He was actually quite a bit older than her, even if he didn’t look it and she didn’t know how to handle it.

Ren was offering her a drink now as well, thankfully Erza stepped in then, “Stop being ridiculous. We’ve got important matters to deal with.” Ren and Eve instantly stop at Erza’s warning. “This will get us to where we’re trying to go faster than the train, it was smart of you to bring it.”

Ren turned away from Erza as he spoke pushing his hair out of his face, “Yes well, it’s an emergency situation and besides if Lucy and Levy are in there we need to rescue them as soon as possible.”

Gajeel nodded at that then and glanced at the big machine that the Blue Pegasus members were so proud of, he didn’t want to fly or travel by anything like that at all but the need to stop the atrocities happening at that dark guild had to be stopped. “Wendy, can you use your magic ta help prevent Salamander and me from gettin’ sick, we really can’t afford to be chucking up our food right now.”

Serious Wendy nods, “Of course Gajeel, more than happy to help you two. If it’s all right can we leave now Hibiki?”

Hibiki nods and guides the group onto their bomber while Wendy casts her spell to help prevent motion sickness on Gajeel and Natsu. The entire ship is silent while those going into the fight prepare for battle. Gajeel was desperately hoping and praying, for the first time in a long time, that Levy would be there. Though he dreaded the thought of what they would find if they were there. Was she weak from magic drain? On the verge of dying…? Or maybe Blue Pegasus just hadn’t found the bodies yet. By Mavis, don’t think like that! He internally scolded himself but he couldn’t sit down and relax, he was too nervous to calm down, he needed to fight.

The trip...oh by Mavis, the fucking trip. It was so long, it felt agonizing, though in truth it had only taken three hours they were the longest three hours of Gajeel’s fucking life and by the time they arrived at the rumored location he was literally bouncing on the balls of his feet.

As soon as Christina landed Gajeel and Natsu were hopping out of the bomber and to the ground, seeking out the scents of the girls, or anyone really. They regretted it pretty quickly though, they could smell death and bodies, there must have been some buried under the ground. Gajeel gags and coughs, trying not to vomit up his food, it smelled so awful. “There are more bodies...I can’t pick up the smell of anything else with this rot under the ground here. You should send for the rest of Blue Pegasus I think.” He glanced over his shoulder at Hibiki then, remembering he used Archive magic, a lost magic like his and Natsu’s was.

Without hesitating Hibiki dashes back into Christina to hopefully send a call out to Blue Pegasus. Salamander was making a face but still seemed to be sniffing around for any sign of life under the smell of corpses. Huffing and really not looking forward to it, Gajeel resumes his sniffing around too, though moving away from the overwhelming smells to try and breathe in fresh air.

It was sudden, like a shot being fired though when Natsu hit the ground running at top speed towards a big hill by a river, it was a fair distance away but Happy had grabbed Natsu’s back and used his extreme speed ability to fly Natsu there. Gajeel was hot on his trail, though Pantherlily wasn’t nearly as fast as Happy was. The others weren’t far behind and now Natsu was sniffing the air looking like a man possessed. It honestly didn’t take Gajeel or Wendy long to figure out why, it was faint but it was there, stardust and strawberries and leather, no blueberries, books, and vanilla though, but that didn’t matter. Lucy was here which meant Levy would be.

There was no visible guild hall though, let alone a prison. Natsu was in a rage though and before anyone knew what was happening he had punched the ground with so much force it crumbled beneath the group on the hill. Below the sound of the cracking dirt and stone though was the sound of wood breaking into pieces. The group falls into into the hole Natsu had made landing on some stone floor a dust cloud surrounding them. When the dust settles Gajeel’s eyes land on a flag of red with purple claw marks designed into it, the top of the emblem read “Yvel” and the bottom part read “Claw”, a guild name?

There were people all around the room sitting at tables and benches, some with beer, some with food, some with women in chains at their sides. Gajeel opens his mouth to speak but before he can say a word Natsu speaks very quietly and menacingly, “Where’s Lucy?” Silence fills the room and Gajeel can’t tell if it’s fear or that they don’t know anything. They hesitate for too long however and Natsu starts the fight with a bang, punching one of the guys with the guild mark with a flaming fist. “I’m gonna kick your ass!”

Gajeel takes a deep breath as his iron scales cover his body and he jumps into the fray, doing his best to avoid Salamander’s flames. They’d make quick work of this guild, he knew that instinctively, these mages liked tricks and traps more than hand to hand combat and everyone here specialized in combat.

Ice flies around Gajeel’s back to jab several of the enemies in front of him, Gray’s maker magic freezing them to the ground. “You’re gonna regret kidnapping our guild mates!” Gray continues to send spears flying at the people; who were now finally beginning to fight back and some part of Gajeel wanted to laugh as he fought and thrashed the entire guild.

Erza’s swords were flying everywhere, there was wind and support magic running between everyone, honestly he was surprised the little blue haired mage didn’t seem to be running low on magic with as much as she was pumping out, it wasn’t until he caught the look in her eyes and the anger banked there that he finally understood why. Her dragon was raging just like Natsu’s was, though it was more subtle, Gajeel could feel the pull of the rage too and was channeling it.

In less than ten minutes the entire guild had been wiped out and captured. At least that’s what they thought until one of the goons yelled with some sort of sound amplifying magic, “Jack get out of here now!” The yell was so loud it reverberated the ground around their heads.

Gajeel snatched the yeller by the throat then growling, “Where’s your prisoners tell us now and I won’t snap your fucking neck.”

The goon coughs and gags struggling a bit before his eyes light up with an awful and evil glint, “Oh hey...long black hair and red eyes, piercings all over ya...I know who you are. She got really upset when she had nightmares about you dying in front of her. Gajeel...right? Her nightmares were of course caused by us but she’s been so traumatized that she started recently having trouble distinguishing reality and fiction.” Gajeel’s fury bursts then and he squeezes the guys neck so hard his face began to turn a sickly blue color.

Erza walks up behind Gajeel then and places a hand on his shoulder, “Enough, you’ll kill him if you keep it up. We need answers, someone will give me them right now or you will regret it deeply. I was tortured not too long ago, I think I can emulate it.” Her brown eyes turn steely then as she glares their captives. Nobody speaks but one points towards a back hallway Gajeel throwing down the bastard who’d freaked him out and running in that direction.

Natsu was hot on his heels and as they followed the path it eventually opened up into an open space with prison cells lining the walls and cages in other places. Gajeel still couldn’t pick up Levy’s scent though, no wait, there it was. 

Fear strangles him as he chases the faint scent down, it was so light and faded and buried under the smells of corpses that he feared the absolute worst. He barely heard Salamander hollering for Lucy as he ran towards the smell.

It led him to a large open room with vats on some of the walls, it freaked him out when he noticed the corpses in the vats of...ice? He didn’t see Levy in them, thank Mavis, but he did spot her unconscious and bleeding heavily in a chair. Without thinking he rushes towards her only for a crazy looking black haired man to suddenly appear behind her in a swarm of ice crystals with a frozen dagger to her neck. He froze. “You came at the worst time, I was about to start experimenting on her.” The voice was nasally and creepy, it sent shivers down Gajeel’s spine, but the iron dragon didn’t move an inch as the man looked him up and down. “Oh, I can see why she was screaming for you now.” His head tilts curiously to the side, “You look strong but right now, you look as though the fear of some higher power has been instilled in you, what’s the little blunette mean to you? Would it hurt you more if I slit her throat now or took her away from you again?”

Gajeel’s heart dropped like a lead balloon, would death be better for her? Oh Mavis why was he even thinking that? His mind was racing he had no idea what to do. He had to do something quickly before the others came or they could get her killed. Without thinking he sort of drops to his knees and stares pleadingly, “L-Listen ya don’t need ta kill her, what do ya want?” He wouldn’t normally negotiate or try and make a deal with a freak like this but Levy needed medical attention, right now.

The creep seems to examine Gajeel trying to figure out if he’s serious or not. After a few moments of tense silence, “You’re a Fairy Tail guild member as well are you not? These two are the smartest in the guild but they’re also stubbornly loyal...you wouldn’t be would you? To save this girl?” Gajeel nods in response, he’d do anything even if in the long run he might be removed from Fairy Tail or banned from the guild, so long as Levy was safe he could deal. “Did you know that guild protects a lot of very powerful magical artifacts? There’s one I want, it’s teal book, it’s got some forbidden ice magic in it that I’d like to get my hands on. Agree to get it for me and let me bug you with one of my specials and I’ll hand the girl over in her current state. I won’t kill her.”

“I’ll do it, but you gotta step away from her and let me come to you to prove you won’t do that.” Gajeel stares suspiciously as the man slowly lifts his hand away from Levy’s neck and steps away from her. Once the man is a safe distance away Gajeel rushes forward and picks Levy up, turning around to run to Wendy. Before he can get going though the man appears in front of him and places an icy cold hand on the back of Gajeel’s neck, he feels something pinch and dig into him and knows that it’s probably something horrific that he doesn’t want to know about but that it’s also the freak’s ‘bug’. He vanishes in a cloud of swirling snow crystals again then and Gajeel is free to dash to Wendy.

The situation he walks into though is just as bad as the situation with Levy, except Lucy is in a jail cell covered in so much dirt and grime that Gajeel wouldn’t have known it was her except for her long blonde hair, still held to one side in a blue bow. Salamander was kneeling nearby but Lucy was quaking in fear muttering quietly, “Please stop...I don’t want to see everyone die again just stop.” She’s whimpering and sounds so pathetic Gajeel’s heart starts to hurt a bit.

Unfortunately it seems both girls aren’t going to make taking care of them easy, in no time at all Levy’s eyes pop open and she instantly starts clawing at Gajeel’s face, she wasn’t fully aware of who was holding her, she was just fighting like a cat desperate to escape. Pantherlily; who had been quietly watching and trying not to intimidate either of the extremely frightened girls, had to reach out and grab Levy’s hands as gently as he possibly could to prevent her from clawing Gajeel up anymore. Gajeel on the other hand was so stunned by the assault he hadn’t even registered the blood or pain, desperate he did the only thing he could think of and started cooing soothingly at her and shushing her softly, “H-Hey Levy it’s just me, Wendy is here too and Lucy.”

That got a spark of recognition from her and she struggled to get out of Gajeel’s arms, he let her down, trying not to look at the blood sliding down her back. Now that he could see her back he really wanted to throttle anyone left alive in the guild hall. A large X was slashed across her back, jagged and fresh but she walked over to Lucy and hugged the blonde tightly, clinging to her. “Lu-Lu…” She spoke softly, Lucy automatically pulling Levy closer to her side, almost protectively, despite glaring in the general direction of Natsu and the rest of those there to rescue them.

“I don’t care what you fuckers do to me, I won’t let you take Levy away again.” Lucy stiffened and hissed at her friends trying to slide back further away from their guild mates but her legs were bleeding and she couldn’t stand up it seemed.

They were in a bind, nobody could get close to them and that was all they wanted to do, Erza, being the type of person she is takes a step towards them, “It looks like I’ll have to knock them out.”

“Are you crazy?! That’ll just make it worse you moron! Yo, metalhead, flamebrain, you guys have something of theirs don’t you?” Gray had grabbed Erza by the shoulder and was pulling her back away from Lucy and Levy while also gesturing at Natsu and Gajeel to step forward just a bit. “Show them. Maybe they’ll let Wendy get close then.”

Surprisingly carefully Natsu steps closer to Lucy, pulling golden keys from his pocket and holding them out to Lucy. “Hey Luce...I’ve got your spirits here. I’m real and I’m just trying to help you, let me give you your keys and then you can decide if I’m really here or not.”

Suspicious still; though by Mavis they wish they knew why she was so damn frightened of them, she gestures to a patch of dirt next to her, “Toss them there.” Natsu doesn’t though, he continues walking forward, Lucy hissing and...growling? At him as he moved closer. “Didn’t you hear me?!”

“You would never just toss your keys on the ground Lucy, so I won’t either.”

Finally within arms reach he places the keys gently on her lap. It’s not even seconds later that she snatches up the object and starts sobbing, just full blown hiccupping sobs that cause Natsu’s heart to pound with fear. “Oh god...You’re here…really here…”

Levy doesn’t lift her head despite her friends sobbing instead carefully wrapping her arms around Lucy. The blonde clung to her keys crying while Levy hugged her protectively. She didn’t speak though and was shaking like a leaf. Wendy was growing worried about the blood since both girls were beginning to pale dangerously so she slowly moves forward, “L-Let me heal you two. You both look like ghosts.”

Neither of the girls flinch away from Wendy when she finally gets close enough to them and the little sky dragon uses her magic to force the wounds to scab over, she couldn’t heal them both extensively despite the fact they both needed it simply because her magic took quite a toll on her body, though she was getting stronger and becoming a very notable name throughout Fiore. She pants a bit before sliding back to give the girls some space, noticing both of them rather desperately trying to cover up the actual marks on them.

Magically weak Lucy shakes as she lifts up Virgo’s key and forces her magic to the surface, it was trying to retreat though, the blonde instinctively fearing her magic surfacing just in case they were trying to trick her again to drain her until she was nothing but a husk. She’s able to pump out just enough magic to get Virgo to appear who stares wide eyed at her key holder, fear flickering in her normally blank gaze. “Princess…?”

Her keys were real, Virgo was real, which meant...everyone else was real too. Lucy tried not to sob again but a few tears slid down her cheeks anyway. “V-Virgo...I’ll explain later please, could you bring Levy and I knew outfits from the Celestial world? T-These are covered in blood...a-and I’d like a long skirt please something to cover my legs.”

“Right away Princess!”

“Virgo!” Levy suddenly says quite powerfully despite her subdued state, “C-Can...I have a jacket please...anything to cover up my back…”

“Of course Miss Levy.” Virgo eyed the bluenette then noticing she was refusing to show her back to anyone while Lucy was constantly covering up her legs. Virgo disappeared into the Celestial World then, coming back on her own magic to avoid harming Lucy anymore. “Princess and Miss Levy, here, Aries has been making new outfits for you since we noticed you’d gone missing and Miss Levy as well, it helped keep her from panicking that our contracts were going to break with you Princess. Them breaking would only mean one thing…”

“I’m so sorry Virgo...I couldn’t...protect myself. They had some anti-magic object, it felt like a part of myself had been cut from my very being.” Lucy shook her head whimpering a little bit while struggling to her feet to take off her grimy and bloody clothing, uncaring that everyone could see her.

Thankfully Erza shooed them all out before either of the girls undressed too far, though Lucy lost balance and fell over, before she hit the ground Loke had appeared behind her and caught her. Unfortunately for the lion her panicked screaming brought Erza right into the room with a blade out aiming it at Loke’s throat. She realized who he was though and lowered the blade. “What happened?!”

“I...don’t know I wanted to check on her now that I felt we were back in her hands but when I touched her to keep her from falling...she started screaming…” Loke spoke quietly a dumbfounded look on his face as he stared at Lucy who was staring at him with fear in her eyes.

Levy seemed to find some strength though and shoved Loke away from Lucy looking down at her feet guilt ridden. “Just...we...there’s been...a lot of awful things done to us. Give Lu-Lu time Loke...C-Can Aries or Virgo come out instead or Plue?”

There was the tiniest spark of anger at Levy’s actions but the way she was shaking like a leaf just being near him...had him in a choke hold of fear of what was done to them since it seemed only men made either panic or shake. It must be taking quite a toll Levy to have even protected Lucy from Loke. “Yes Levy...I’m sorry I didn’t know it would cause trouble. I’m going to stay out for a bit though to protect you two. Let me go fetch Plue.” With that he disappeared into the Celestial World, returning with Plue in hand who he very cautiously offered to Lucy.

Thankfully she took the little dog spirit and hugged it tightly nervously glancing up at Erza. Lucy couldn’t move right and needed help with her clothing. “E-Erza...could you help me with my skirt, my legs hurt so badly I can’t...really stay standing.”

“Of course Lucy, sit and I’ll help you get the skirt on properly.” Erza walked over to the now sitting blonde, the skirt half-way up her thighs but not quite up her hips. The red head got a good look at Lucy’s legs though as she helped her and breathed deeply, rage sparking in her brown eyes. There was a carved out X on Lucy’s legs when she put them together, it ran so deep that Erza instinctively knew this would scar Lucy and she shook. “You two need food.” Erza stands up after she’s helped Lucy, quite abruptly, making Levy flinch slightly in fear before storming outside the cell speaking to Gajeel in a low voice, “See if this wretched guild has supplies to cook with and make something for everyone.”

Gajeel could hear the rage behind Erza’s command and for once decided to obey without argument. “Right, what was the scream about?”

“Loke came out to help Lucy but she panicked about him being near her. Levy said...something very unsettling.”

Red eyes narrowed slightly then and before he wandered off he walked over to the cell tapping it, “Are ya dressed yet?” Levy didn’t answer, instead hurriedly pulling on her new jacket and rushing out of the cell to tackle Gajeel and cling to him. He stumbled, more from surprise than any actual power behind Levy’s sudden clinginess. “Shrimp…?”

She didn’t speak for a long time, instead simply hanging onto Gajeel with a fierceness he didn’t get. The guilt was eating him alive almost immediately, why was she hanging onto him after what he’d done to her back then? “Don’t...leave me.” The quiet whispered plea broke him and he really couldn’t do anything but obey at that point, he still wanted to cook for her, and himself and the others so he scooped Levy up letting her bury her face in his chest as he carried her off towards the kitchen.

“Once the blonde is all set come into the hall, I’ll see what I can scrounge up for everyone."


	3. Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls have successfully been rescued and are desperately trying to gather their strength again. There's little the group seem to be able to do to truly help bring them a sense of peace though and they find it hard to see the trauma their friends have endured and the scars left behind by it. There's some light in this darkness though as the girls are taken outside and finally returned home, where Porlyusica waits to heal them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHH I AM VERY LATE I AM SORRY TwT Work got me busy suddenly and hunting for a new job and general stressful things so I am so very sorry I didn't stick to my promise!

**Chapter Three**

Lucy had known Levy was going to dash off as soon as she’d heard Gajeel’s voice, she didn’t feel abandoned, after all Loke was keeping a respectful distance and she had Plue and now Happy in her arms snuggling them both like plush toys. Lucy clearly remembered the first thing Levy had told their kidnappers. “Gajeel will find you and when he does he’s going to beat the shit out of all of you.” The fiery bluenette had been so pissed off and so confident in that, but it was that fire that had caught Jack Frost’s attention. The fucked up Necromancer who enhanced his ghouls with ice. Levy had become intimate with his techniques and had told Lucy about them, needing to get it all out of her head to stall the nightmares from coming. It hadn’t helped though, Lucy remembered clearly having to hold Levy down to stop her from hurting herself in her nightmare fueled slumber.

Lucy had been silent with her faith in Natsu, he had saved her before, he’d find her now. That’s what she’d thought at the time anyway. She expected rescue in days...but it hadn’t come. She had tried to save herself and Levy multiple times, but each time was severely punished for any escape attempt. Levy would be punished too because they knew seeing Levy suffer would affect Lucy far more than being on the receiving end. Eventually she’d stopped trying to escape hoping to protect Levy better but that creep just wouldn’t stay away from her and Levy kept her head up, she didn’t ever break until recently. She’d described the nightmare to Lucy and she could understand why it had upset Levy so much. It was after this that Levy had begun to break, she really hoped being around Gajeel would help bring her peace finally. Though their sense of safety would forever be damaged, they had been found and saved from dying.

The sudden exhaustion overwhelmed Lucy as she stood up and had begun trying to walk out of the cell, Loke wanted to step forward but Happy was a bit faster and caught Lucy’s shirt preventing her from falling face first in the dirt. “Carefully Lucy! You don’t want to get more hurt do you?”

“Sorry Happy, it’s just hard to walk.”

“Let me carry you Luce.” Natsu had made his way into the cell and Lucy sort of flinched away from his touch, causing him to pull his hands back looking disappointed. “Sorry, if it’s hard to walk though you should get some support from Wendy or Erza.”

Erza walked over to Lucy and offered her arm and hand, grateful when Lucy took it as she began to help her walk out into the hall. Walking out into the main hall was a shock, it was brightly lit now and felt almost warm. Lucy could hear Gajeel puttering around in the kitchen a dazed Levy placed on a barrel where she just watched him with a forlorn look on her face. “What did you find to make in there Gajeel?”

“Ingredients for a potato soup, hearty and warm, it’ll take a bit to cook though but Shrimp and Blondie could use the nutrients.” Without looking at Levy for too long he handed her a potato peeler and several potatoes, which she robotically began to peel. It gave her something to do with her hands though and Lucy felt the desire to do something, for the first time in awhile.

Without asking she pulls away from Erza and on wobbly legs walks over Levy, grabbing a colander along the way. As Levy peeled the potatoes Lucy took them and began washing them. Gajeel didn’t complain, the two were doing something other than acting like shells of themselves, though he didn’t really blame either of them. Eventually the whole crew were gathered in the kitchen each doing something to help with the cooking; except Natsu, he’d tried to cook the potatoes with his fire and burned them instead. He was pouting on a bench in the main hall grumbling about how he could help but nobody would let him.

It took awhile, as he’d said it would but by the time the large pot of food was done everyone was calming down, and Ren, Eve, and Hibiki had come into the hole Natsu had made to check on them and give them an update on the situation outside. Before he could speak though Levy spoke, for the first time since she was rescued. “There are at least fifty-three dead women buried out there, I counted them.”

Lucy flinched at that talking a bit about it as well, “They weren’t supposed to kill anyone, but an order came down from somewhere and the order said they needed more magic for some sort of crystal ball, we saw it once. It was filled with poisonous black magic. They were also told to clear out the cells of anyone too weak to provide a substantial amount of magic.”

“That’s when the killing started,” The two were talking to each other more than they were talking to anyone else. “Anyone who couldn’t provide at least four lacrima full of magic were to be drained of every bit and then their life force. They’ve got a machine that did something pretty terrifying.”

“It converted ‘life’ into ‘magic’, Jack Frost was the guardian of it, I’d assume it’s been destroyed or taken at this point. I’m...glad you came when you did though, Levy and I were next on their list because both of us have a lot of magic. They were told to drain us without a break, the longest either of us had been stuck in that awful machine was a day, we’ve seen enough of the results of constant draining that well we weren’t confident we would live through another week.”

The two girls peer at each other, rather than their friends while Gajeel shoves a bowl of the hearty soup in both of their hands. “Eat, you need to try and regain your strength. Also this is for you Shrimp.” He reaches into his pocket and holds out a red light pen and a new pair of windreader glasses. “Your old ones got broke, I used some of what I had to get you a new pair.”

Levy sort of stares at the tools of her trade with a mix of anger and sadness, “I don’t think I should have these.” She blinks once and turns her gaze away from the items mumbling so quietly only the Dragon Slayers could hear her. “I want to leave Fairy Tail when I get back, a peaceful librarian life is what I want from now on.” Of course Levy was well aware that Wendy, Natsu, and Gajeel could hear her but she didn’t really care, her magic had done her no good in preventing any of this from happening.

Gajeel froze in his tracks and could feel his heart bending on the verge of snapping. He wondered how deep her mental scars were for her to want to give up magic of all things, and especially leave Fairy Tail hadn’t she grown up in that guild? Natsu on the other hand looked about ready to blow up, though Gajeel didn’t understand why it would bother the pink-haired mage so much. Wendy just looked upset about the situation and like she was about to start crying.

Hibiki could sense the tension in the air and from the looks of the slayers, all these emotions were geared at her. Without thinking much about it he pushes past Gajeel and Pantherlily who had been standing protectively near her and gently touches Levy’s hand. “Can I show you something? I’ve been thinking about this since I first saw your magic.” She stared at him blankly, not even attempting to eat the soup either, though she hadn’t jerked away from Hibiki either. “Please?”

Pursing her lips she nods and puts her bowl down, allowing Hibiki to lift her hands and focus his Archive magic on Levy’s hand before spreading her fingers as if over a keyboard, without really knowing what was happening a teal see-through keyboard appeared under her fingers, along with a screen. A bit startled Levy stared at the screen in front of her, very slowly typing in a name, instinctively it seemed she typed in Gajeel’s name, and a whole list of jobs he’d done and times he’d briefly appeared in magazines or newspapers showed up, archiving his existence since he first joined Phantom Lord, though nothing before that. “What’s this Hibiki?”

He takes his hands away from hers and smiles, “Archive magic, a lost magic, from the moment we met I knew you’d have a knack for it. It’s a magic of knowledge more than fighting, right up your alley you know? I can teach you how to use it if you want me to, I’ve already showed you the first step honestly.”

“I think I’d like that.” Without really thinking about it Levy scooted closer to Hibiki and started asking him questions.

Lucy watched with a surprised look on her face but said nothing. Gajeel on the other hand was really not happy about it. Levy had barely spoken to him despite clinging to him so hard earlier, yet there she was talking to and leaning close to Hibiki without a care. He did notice that whenever Natsu, Gray, or any of the other guys got closer to her though she’d retreat from them and closer to Hibiki and this bothered him. Internally he scolds himself for being so jealous, she wasn’t his and she’s already been through more than enough. No thanks to him either. Guilt swept through him then as the image of her pinned body to the tree flashed through his head and he turned away from her.

“Green doesn’t look that great on you Gajeel.” Pantherlily spoke suddenly eating his own soup while just staring at Gajeel, who jumped at the intrusive and suddenly observant cat.

“Hey that’s my business cat don’t go spouting it.” He turns away from the cat too and says louder over his shoulder, “I know yer interested in this magic Shrimp but eat first. Yer too weak right now to be messing around.”

Levy has the decency to look properly scolded and picks up her bowl to start eating her soup. It’s warm, something she hasn’t had in over a month at this point. Her body locks up suddenly, immediately catching the attention of the nearby Hibiki before she drops the bowl and starts shaking like a leaf, trying not to scream. She’d gotten so used to the cold she could probably rival Gray for endurance in the snow, but feeling the warmth reminded her that the cold would come again, and that made her panic.

“Levy!” Hibiki cried while Pantherlily had managed to catch her bowl and was now leaping back to give the small blue headed girl some space. “Hey hey! Look up, look at me!” Hibiki lightly touches under Levy’s chin and lifts her frightened hazel gaze to his warm coal eyes, gently shushing at her. “It’s okay, nobody here is going to hurt you. We’re going to protect you from now on, we’re going to take you home soon.” Slowly as she stared at the ever steadfast Archive mage her breathing slowed and the tension in her body slowly left. “Good, that’s better. Think you can handle eating now?”

Levy simply mutely nods and flinches when she takes the bowl from Pantherlily who quickly steps back and shifts into his smaller form to be less threatening and this instantly makes Levy hold out her hand to him, “C...Can I cuddle you while I eat?”

“Of course, sorry if I was scaring you before.”

“Nah it’s okay, I’m just…” She doesn’t finish the sentence instead shaking her head and tucking the compliant Pantherlily in her lap, her bowl sitting in front of Pantherlily while she slowly eats the delicious soup. “Thanks Gajeel, sorry for almost wasting it.”

“It’s fine. I made more than enough.”

Thankfully the rest of the meal passes without any further incidents, though at some point after getting full Lucy had promptly passed out and Natsu had cautiously picked her up to carry her onto the Magic Bomber they’d be on to get them back to Magnolia. Despite her earlier panic the blonde seemed perfectly content to snuggle into Natsu’s vest and simply breathe in his scent; though she’d never tell him she was sensitive to that. Maybe it was shock finally slamming into her and draining her of whatever she had left but the fire slayer didn’t seem to mind and even fought his own nausea to keep her nearby.

Levy was just silent most of the ride home, hanging around Hibiki and carrying Pantherlily around like a toy, Gajeel was really trying hard not to let the jealousy or worry show. Why had she clung to him earlier if she was just going to stay away from him the rest of the time? Maybe...a distraction? Hibiki was teaching her something and she did always love to learn all she could, she was the smartest in the whole guild Gajeel would bet. Now that he was thinking about it, he settled down, the jealousy fading.

When they do arrive home Porlyusica is there already, waiting and takes the girls into the clinic at the guild hall, chasing off all their guildmates who were trying to see them. “They need space, can’t you tell they're still in shock?Be patient and wait ing the hall." The nasty woman had snarled at them as she'd guided them away from their safe havens, forcing them to leave behind Happy and Pantherlily who had been helping keep the girls calm.

Once inside the room the first question out of Porlyusica’s mouth is rather unpleasant for both girls to think about. “I know you aren’t going to want to answer this but we need to know if there’s going to be future problems later. Did they sexually assault either of you?” Both women remain deathly silent. “I need to know if we need to be looking for any signs of pregnancy. This stays between us but you have to tell me to let me help.”

Lucy and Levy both squirm before one of them finally speaks up, “Touched but because we fought so hard...they didn’t want to run the risk of doing more though...if we’d not been saved, it probably would have escalated.” Levy purses her lips after she speaks and stares intently at the floor in front of her.

“I had the same experience, they kept Levy and I together for some reason...so almost everything done to one was done with the other around. I think they were trying to break our spirits or something by hurting the other, it would have worked if they’d been smarter and kept us separated after the fact. They didn’t though.”

“That must have been traumatizing. I’m glad they found you before it got worse, I’m sure...they’ll want you two to testify in the trial of that prison, so be prepared for that in the future. For right now though take off your clothes and let me treat your wounds.” The girls were surprised at how sympathetic Porlyusica sounded right then, she was normally a harsh old woman.

They do as she says, each revealing the wounds on their bodies as well as several other bruises and cuts and scrapes, Levy had several scabbed over wounds that Lucy didn't though and her fingers; which she had hidden with gloves, looked extremely damaged but healed just enough to only leave scars behind. She says nothing though and begins their treatments, noting the dark magic infused in the large X shaped wound. These wounds, the x's they've been cursed or enchanted somehow, they'll heal but I can't dispel the magic in these marks. You need to carry yourselves with caution. Unfortunately I can't prevent the scarring either."

Levy was shaking now and crying silently but hard, Lucy wasn’t doing much better but wrapped her arms around her shorter friend and hugged her. “I wish we could have..." Lucy goes quiet, not finishing the thought though a deep anger raged in her eyes behind the gloss of tears.

Porlyusica looks between the two girls and shakes her head quietly, she understood the rage and anger and fear but hoped being home would prevent them from stepping onto a darker path. Quiet now she finishes treating them and makes both climb into the hospital beds as she walks out and waves to Makarov.

“What is it Porlyusica?”

“Keep an eye on those girls, they’re full of sadness and rage right now. I may hate humans but I hate evil humans more and they could easily tip the scales to evil right now. They’re traumatized, so I suggest only allowing two to three visitors in at a time and don’t send any men in their alone with them.”

Now it was Makarov’s turn to be furious, “They’ll pay for what they’ve done.”

“But not by your hand old man, let the law rule this one. If you need me send that speedy brat to fetch me, you may want to consider sending groups of mages out on patrols around the city from now on by the way. There’s some curse on those x’s they’ve been marked with and I’m afraid I cannot dispel it.”

“Right, thank you Porlyusica.” Makarov spoke softly and the pink haired witch simply huffed and stormed off down the stairs, leaving Makarov to handle his children and lay down the rules for visiting. “All right brats I know all of you want to see them but they need rest so pair up in groups of two-three, Mirajane will you stay in the room with them and keep an eye on them?”

“Of course Guild Master!” Mirajane spoke cheerfully giving him a bright smile as she skipped up the stairs and into the clinic, she could be heard cheerfully chattering to Levy and Lucy while the groups of two-three guildmates all gathered in a line to see their guild mates finally returned home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is something new I'm doing, and know that you don't have to do anything with this link. I just am trying to write more and put out more content and start working on my own original stuff soon. I'm really glad to be rewriting this fic as well, I'm just better at writing than I was so I hope the higher quality can make up for some of the lateness, or well I hope it's higher quality writing anyway. Thank you so much and I do appreciate all the support I get for this fic.
> 
>  
> 
> http://ko-fi.com/jisatsuscorpio


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